By Olenka Dobczanska, USUF Communications Manager
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, January 8, 2004

The publication is produced in the Washington offices of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation by Managing Editor John Kun, USUF Senior Advisor Morgan Williams, and Manager of USUF's Economic Development Program Irene Mokra. Staff members who worked on the first issue included USUF summer interns Andriy Shekhovtsov and Lyudmyla Polyun, USUF Program Associate Miriam Bates, USUF Adminstration Associate Marko Serbinsky, as well as interns Yuriy Piskalyuk and Olga Sukhanova.

The inaugural 52-page issue introduces the editorial team and gives an overview of the Foundation's [USUF] programs. Greetings and congratulations from important players who promote U.S.-Ukraine and international business are interspersed throughout the issue. They include messages from Anatoliy Kinakh, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs and the Federation of Employers of Ukraine; Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio's 9th District; Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Tim Honey, Executive Director of Sister Cities International; and Charles Grassley, U.S. Senator from Iowa and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

Each new issue will contain an overview of the latest developments in Ukrainian trade and business relationships. The variety of articles that will be contained in each issue is intended to appeal to a wide audience.

Feature articles will highlight a company or institution along with an interview with a company representative. For example, the first issue contains an interview with Jed Sunden of KP Publications, which counts the Kyiv Post among its publications and with Yaroslav Lyubinets of Soft-Serve, Inc., a Lviv-based software company that is successfully operating in Eastern Europe and the United States. There are also interviews with Michael Considine, BISNIS Trade Specialist for Ukraine and Moldova at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Natalka Jaresko, President and CEO of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund.

POTENTIAL will also contain very practical articles designed to serve as reference material for people interested in business ventures in Ukraine. How-to articles in the first issue include one by Nestor Scherbey on "How to Export to Global Markets". Former U.S. commercial attache in Kyiv Andrew Bihun provides suggestions on how do business with U.S. companies in "An Overview of Cooperation between Ukraine and U.S." Valuable reference information can also be found in articles which list opportunities for internships and study in the U.S. available to Ukrainians, a guide to selected U.S. government projects currently underway in Ukraine, and an overview of industries, the business climate and opportunities in the U.S. state of Iowa.

"Through POTENTIAL, I hope you will see the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation [USUF] as an NGO [non-governmental organization] that is deeply committed to Ukraine's democratic future. I believe we can offer information that will be valuable and useful to Ukrainians, Americans and others in the international arena, and that we can bring more political and business attention to support Ukraine's democratic development," says editor John Kun.

If you would like to receive a free copy of POTENTIAL, "Where Business Opportunities Are Endless," contact the Foundation [USUF] by mail, phone (202-347-4264) or e-mail (bizlinks@usukraine.org). The Foundation [USUF] is looking for feedback in order to improve subsequent issues of this unique publication. We would like to hear your ideas and insights. We ask for your cooperation and support. Join a growing community of people on both continents who contribute to POTENTIAL'S mission to promote Ukraine's business and economic development through ties to the U.S. and other international business communities.